Real-time rebates among new benefits of web-based POS

Among the customer services available with web-based POS systems being deployed by Best Buy, Nordstrom and REI are real-time rebates and instant delivery times printed on store receipts, says Keith McNamara of Fujitsu Transaction Solutions.

Among the customer services available with web-based POS systems being deployed by Best Buy Co. Inc., Nordstrom Inc. and Recreational Equipment Inc. are real-time rebates and instant delivery times printed on store receipts, says Keith McNamara, senior vice president of Fujitsu Transaction Solutions.

Best Buy, Nordstrom and REI are among the retail users of Fujitsu’s GlobalSTORE POS system. The GlobalSTORE system uses web technology to integrate with other applications, such as transportation management systems, to instantly pull information that can add value to a customer purchase, McNamara says.

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For example, when a store customer places an order for home delivery, the POS transaction can integrate with an instant data exchange with a retailer’s transportation management system to produce a scheduled delivery date in real-time. “So the customer’s receipt can print out with a message saying when to expect delivery,” McNamara says.

Retailers deploying GlobalSTORE also have the option to offer customers real-time rebates at the point-of-sale, so that customers get an instant credit toward another purchase without having to fill out and mail a form, McNamara says.

McNamara notes that GlobalSTORE uses web services technology, including XML, to automatically push and pull information between the POS system and other applications, regardless of whether the other applications are web-based.

“Web technology is becoming very important in any retail infrastructure that includes POS,” he says, adding that there are plenty more web-enabled services to come. “There will be an explosion of integration points in the store.”